Sam Bunny is a publication designer living in Wellington, New Zealand. This is his design for the book Bugs by Whiti Hereaka. You can view more of Sam’s work on his website: www.sambunny.co.nz I wish my last name was bunny too. Though if it was, I bet you all wouldn’t believe me.
On Saturday I had opportunity to attend a sold out TEDx event here in Auckland. If you are unfamiliar with TED, it is a series of talks based on the notion that brilliant ideas are worth spreading. I’m a fan of TED and I love that I can experience brilliant ideas from brilliant minds and be inspired not only by creatives, but from many different industries. One of Saturday’s speakers, Paul Cameron, CEO of BookTrack spoke about their innovative new product. But first, let me share some statistics. It would only take a generation or two in this direction before reading for pleasure became a lost art. Reading is pleasurable because it is engrossing. When I read a good book, I see the world through that book. I think about the characters when I’m not reading. Reading also shares deep dark feelings between author and reader. You don’t get a meaningful inner monologue when watching a movie. Reading presents ideas in ways that video alone cannot. I’m a perpetual list maker and one of my …
I was recently given the opportunity to test drive a recipe from a new cook book. Adie McClelland’s first Black Dog Cottage Cookbook was published in 2009 and her second book, sensibly titled The Second Black Dog Cottage Cookbook was released in August. She’s a well travelled foodie and it shows through her recipes. Her style of cooking is much like mine – unfussy and easy but with a Mediterranean angle. I think she would forgive me my casual cooking style. The Second Black Dog Cottage Cook Book has just been released throughout New Zealand. For more information please visit Phantom House Books http://www.phantomhouse.com or their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/BlackDogCottageCookbook. I wanted to make the All-In-One Seafood Stew because it’s what I would order if I were dining out. This recipe requires 10 tomatoes, which for a long time were unbelievably expensive and probably not very good. They’re starting to come down in price now so it was time to tackle this stew. After a quick scan of the recipe, I identified just one unknown ingredient: passata. Passata …
One of my new year’s resolutions is to read more books. At the risk of sounding cheesy, stories that enhance your life are worth your time. I’m currently reading a book that makes me fall in love with reading and words and life all over again. It’s not a foodie book but the characters are so well written I want to savour every morsel. I find myself gasping at beautifully written sentences and highlighting them for no real reason. It’s affecting the music I listen to and gives me a heavy feeling in my throat as if my heart has swelled up and is trying to escape out my mouth. The book was published in the 1950’s and I’m grateful that while the writer is long, long gone, he’s left a generous legacy of works. I’ll be slowly picking away at his books until they’re eaten up. I don’t think I’ll be writing book reviews on these books because these are not a foodie books, but I might be able to bend one of his …
Don’t Try This At Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the world’s greatest cooks and chefs Edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Andrew Friedman, 2007. I wonder about if the editors Spoon and Fried are pseudonyms or just coincidence? This is collection of personal botch up stories from 23 of the well-known chefs including Heston Blumenthal, Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert and Jamie Oliver. Each chapter or story is only a few pages long so it’s a good book just to flick through and read a story or two at a time. If you cook like me – someone who has never followed a recipe to the letter, you will inevitably find yourself with some failures. How you deal with your botch up is up to you. I’ve become quite good at salvaging things either by finding a fix or making something entirely new with what I’ve got. In a creative, stressful arena, in the heat of a commercial kitchen, tight deadlines, egos and people from many different backgrounds are thrown into the mix. It’s a recipe for disaster. …
A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, 2009. Last night, I bought my first Kindle book. I’ve been browsing sample chapters and free books in the sparse free time I have had, but this was the first sample I couldn’t put down. I fixed myself the first coffee in weeks (I have now decided it isn’t coffee causing my eczema) and stayed up until the wee hours reading until my eyes burned and I conceded to sleep. In the morning, I picked up where I left off. Then at the last moment, I got up, went out, had yum cha with my family in Newmarket and came home and finished the book. I salivated, I almost cried, I envied and I almost cried again. I’m tough like that. It takes a bit to make me cry. This book would make a prone person weep cats and dogs. Molly’s book is like reading your foodie friend’s letters and favourite recipes and it makes sense, since Molly writes a food blog called Orangette. It’s not a blog a …
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